These are the top 10 most viral Ghana and Nigeria music collaborations
Amidst the heightened festivities of December last year, fumes of controversy and adversity had risen, threatening to cause a rift between the symbiotic and filial relationship between neighbourhood West African countries, and here are the top 10 most viral Ghana and Nigeria music collaborations.
Brewed by controversial Ghanaian dancehall sensation, Shatta Wale’s utterances touching on the Nigerian music industry and media seemingly not showing enough love to their Ghanaian counterparts.
it had also swirled up in its wake, several discourses, highlighting the many strategies Nigerian musicians and its presiding industry had taken to see to the supremacy of their music.
1. Fefe Na Fe- Tic Tac ft. Tony Tetuila, 2004
A line from an Ashanti proverb, Fefe na efe had already been demystified by the late Fela Kuti to mean ‘it is the beauty of a woman.’
And then when the Ghanaian hiplife musician Tic Tac had recruited Nigeria’s Tony Tetuila on a similarly titled record, they’d put out something so fresh and evergreen, a brief listen will act as an instant memory recall of the song for Ghana and Nigeria-born 90s babies and millennials.
An ode to the beauty of a woman, Fefe Na Efe can stand toe-to-toe with the latest African woman appreciation songs out in recent times.
2. My Love- Tuface, now 2Baba and VIP, 2006
Once upon a time in Nigeria, Ghanaian music had been all the rave, with radio stations and DJs putting records from the country on heavy rotation.
In that era, Ghanaian highlife and hip-hop trio, VIP had been a favourite, leading with songs like Ahomka Womu and more.
In 2006, Tuface, now known as 2Baba, whose artistry had begun to expand beyond African shores off the back of his African Queen smash hit, had put out My Love together with the group.
it had been a spirited and up-tempo boy-band sounding affair that had captured the market Ghanaian and Nigerian market as not just another Tuface hit, but an evergreen cross-continent love anthem.
3. Two Women- Tony Tetuila ft VIP, 2006
Further proof of VIP’s star power back in the days was their collaboration with Nigerian star, Tony Tetuila, who was himself formerly one of three of the Remedies.
Tony Tetuila also a chart blazer, had before that given the airwaves Omode Meta, My Car and his feature on Tic Tac’s Fefe Na Efe. So back then in the early 2000s, this collaboration was a hand joining of two music heavyweights to create an unforgettably hip record that speaks on a unique dilemma; being in love with two women.
Two Women had had such an impact on the airwaves that right from the intro which goes ‘Sele, sele, Ghana, Naija, let’s go,’ everyone knew it was party time.
4. Kiss Your Hand- R2Bees ft. Wande Coal, 2009
In the present time in Lagos state and at a gathering of young Nigerians, a certified way to get them on their feet is to put on the Wande Coal-featured Kiss Your Hand dancehall-inflected hiplife record by R2Bees.
You turn the volume all the way up from the adlibs on the intro that go ‘Ratata! It’s Wande Coal!’ And watch the party get started.
Such was and still is the Black Diamond and R2Bees effect, making a Ghana-Nigerian collaboration that is not only unforgettable but incredibly iconic.
Ironically, Wande Coal himself had before that put out a similarly titled record as one of the masterpieces off his debut album, Mushin 2 Mohits, but as fate would have it, it was the cultural exchange that would be the anthem and the soundtrack of the 90s baby’s childhood.
5. Slow Down- R2Bees ft. Wizkid, 2013
Hiplife was at the very core of Ghanaian music back in the noughties and 2010s and the R2Bees duo made up of Mugeez and Omar Sterling had greatly blessed the subgenre not only with their talent but with era-defining collaborations.
This is a feat they sealed four years after their Kiss Your Hand smash hit, this time with a slow-paced number that travelled past being for lovers alone to be for music lovers as Ghanaians and Nigerians everywhere crooned along to Wizkid’s laidback lines on the song and then to rap song lines from R2Bees.
The official video of Slow Down which marked Wizkid’s entry into continental currently sits on 21 million views on YouTube as a slight testament to the power that this collaboration holds.
6. Skin Tight- Mr Eazi ft. Efya, 2015
In the late 2010s, a sound had infected the airwaves of Ghana and Nigeria and it was the Ghanaian-bred Banku music, pioneered by Mr Eazi, a cultural hybrid of his Nigerian roots and time studying in Ghana.
The sound had begun its circulation following the release of his Juls-produced and Efya-assisted single Skin Tight, done up in his Banku style which he described as a mix of Ghanaian expressions and Nigerian chord progressions.
Juls and Efya both being Ghanaians, had been the perfect collaborators for the track, with Juls who’d reached out to him earlier on in his career, serving as a catalyst to the growth of Eazi’s sound and Efya becoming a long-running Nigerian collaborator afterwards.
Skin Tight by Mr Eazi had not only grown into a smash hit, but was an entire cultural reset and era for Nigerians and Ghanaians, both consumers and creators as it influenced a lot of choices from then on and remains a favourite till now.
7. Hollup- Mr Eazi ft Joey B and Dammy Krane, 2015
In 2015, you didn’t need a whole lot to have a good time in a gathering of young people, granted you had a source of playing music at amplified volumes and they promptly heard.
Mr Eazi quip ‘You think say di world dey revolve around your bumbum?’ over the kicks looped in the instrumentals that punctuated Mr Eazi’s vocals and just before Dammy Krane’s Fuji like vocalisation, Joey B’s even-paced yet arresting rap to wrap in one of the biggest records of the year.
That was the effect of the Mr Eazi Hollup collab joint, we daresay it still holds sway to date.
8. Anointing- Mr Eazi ft Sarkodie, 2016
The Mr Eazi-influenced Banku era had witnessed a resurgence of Ghanaian and Nigerian collabo/rations that created several smashes hits with a markedly slower beat count that would normally not have climbed to such levels.
Anointing by Mr Eazi featuring Sarkodie was one of such records and had partly due to the cosign from the Ghanaian OG rapper, simultaneously reigned over the airwaves even while Skin Tight featuring Efya also did.
It’s safe to say in this era, that the Ghana and Nigerian collaborations were not only iconic but the vibes themselves, immaculate.
9. Daddy Yo- Wizkid ft. Efya, 2016
In late 2016, Wikzid had dropped Daddy Yo as the precursor to his then-forthcoming third studio album, Sounds From the Other Side.
A dancehall infused pop- an affair that was heady and irresistible, it had Ghanaian Efya on the backup vocals, creating the perfect aura for the record which became a continental hit as well as an end-year jam.
10. Dance For Me – Eugy, Mr Eazi, 2016
2016 also saw Ghanaian British singer, Eugy team up with Mr Eazi who had been the rave of the moment to make a certified dancehall banger.
But this time around, the impact had been felt more by Africans in the diaspora, with the song’s dance challenge snowballing into a sub-movement while the song itself was recognised as a sure party starter.